This invention relates generally to supports for commercial food service equipment, and particularly to height adjustable legs and casters for such equipment.
Commercial food service equipment is often supported upon a floor by legs or casters. Most equipment in commercial kitchens is set to a common work height. Adjustable legs and leveling devices are used to allow for height adjustments to achieve a common height regardless of factory preset heights. Height adjustments are also needed where the floor is not level or even.
Casters are usually not adjustable in height. Those few that are normally require different mountings than those for the fixed legs or feet that they replace. For safety these must be designed so that a leg or caster may not come off during adjustment. These thus have tended to require rather complex machined adjustment components as exemplified by that shown in U.S. Pat. No. Des 334,136.
In addition, food service equipment often needs to be adopted to either a mobile or immobile configuration at installation. For example, pizza ovens installed in a pizzeria normally have fixed legs while those installed in a convention center have casters for relocation from time to time. Ease of convertability without the need for change in the equipment""s legs or leg sockets is thus desirable.
Accordingly, it is seen that a need remains for height adjustable supports for food service equipment of more simplified construction and universal application and installment. It is to the provision of such that the present invention is primarily directed.
In a preferred form of the invention a height adjustable support is provided for supporting food service equipment and the like at different elevations above a supporting floor. The support comprises a floor engaging member such as a leg or caster that has a threaded upright stud and a coupling having an internally threaded tubular wall threaded thereon. The support also has at least one set screw threaded channel that extends through the tubular wall and a set screw sized to be threaded through the coupling set screw threaded channel and into setting engagement with the stud. So constructed the coupling may be inserted into a bottom channel of the food service equipment, or into its tubular leg, with the caster or leg stud threaded therein and set at a selected position thereby setting the equipment height.